MONTROSE, MI — A boil water advisory has been lifted for all Montrose residents.
The city of Montrose announced Wednesday morning the boil advisory issued Monday, Aug. 27 following a drop in pressure in a water main along M-57 has expired.
Sam Spence, the city’s Department of Public Works director, said a pressure relief valve in the master pit feeding the city closed sometimes between 11:30 p.m. Sunday night and 12:30 a.m. Monday morning.
"The master pit is the underground vault where the meter is located for the inlet line from Genesee County that feeds the city of Montrose," said Spence.
Complicating the situation was a lightning strike during a thunderstorm over the weekend to a power box that controls a supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA, system to monitor pressure.
As a workaround, Montrose DPW employees installed a gauge on a hydrant and took on three-hour shifts to monitor the pressure, Spence said.
Spence responded around 12:45 a.m. Aug. 27 and opened a bypass valve to allow the system to regulate pressure.
The pressure gauge was reading 17 pounds at the master pit, Spence noted.
"Therefore I felt it was in our residents’ best interest to issue the boil advisory until I could properly sample the drinking water," said Spence in an Aug. 28 email to Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials.
Spence said the pressure relief valve and monitoring system also have been repaired and replaced.